1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management apparatus and management method, which manage various devices including, for example, image forming apparatuses such as a printer and copying machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a device management system, which remotely monitors operation states of peripheral devices (to be referred to as devices hereinafter) including image forming apparatuses such as a printer and copying machine, and collects billing information and use states of expendables, is known. In this device management system, correct management information of devices to be managed cannot often be obtained due to a change in device configuration information such as network settings, replacement of a network board, replacement by other devices, and the like. For this reason, a proposal for detecting a change in device configuration information, and obtaining information from correct devices when the device configuration information has been changed has been made.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-72792 describes the following technique. That is, when a network board detects replacement of itself, it sends device specific information (serial number) and replacement time to a device management apparatus, and the device management apparatus specifies a device from which a log is corrected based on the device specific information and time at a log collection timing.
However, the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-72792 is premised on that device specific information such as a serial number can be obtained, but that technique is not applicable to a case in which a device from which device specific information cannot be obtained is to be managed. Also, when device specific information such as a serial number cannot be obtained, a MAC address is normally used as device specific information. However, since the MAC address is specific information of a network interface, replacement of a network board and that of a device main body cannot be coped with.